51 of the Most Anticipated Movies Heading to Theaters in 2019

There are so many reasons to look forward to in 2019: The start of a brand new year, that rumored "clean slate" everyone talks about, and 365 days that are full of possibility -- and occasional trips to the movie theater. Yes, while there are tons of new TV shows to watch, and docu-series available to stream at home these days, but we'll surely miss out if we don't venture out, buy a ticket and tiny bucket of popcorn (both of which will likely be absurdly expensive), and take in what's on the big screen. It seems as if we've been hearing about some future blockbusters for years (in part because we have), and now that all of those live-action remakes and sequels and sci-fi mysteries are finally going to released? We'll, we’re pretty darn excited.

For starters, we need to talk about all of those Disney films that are bringing our favorite cartoon characters to life and also star a whole lot of A-listers -- like Will Smith as Aladdin's Genie, and Beyonce as The Lion King's Nala. There are also modern remakes to horror movies -- like Pet Sematary,and the sequel to the 2017 remake of It -- coming down the pipeline, along with the long-awaited follow-ups to Avengers and Godzilla. (Basically, every action film we can think of.)

Of course, not every movie is a new take on something old -- although, honestly, a lot of them are). Where'd You Go Bernadette and The Woman in the Window are based on novels, and we can already feel the laughter bubbling up when thinking about Rebel Wilson's upcoming original rom-com with Isn't It Romantic. There's also plenty of films for the little ones, too, with the UglyDolls movie and another animated adventure called Wonder Park being released during the year -- not to mention that Frozen 2 is finally out next December (we're counting down the days).

Ahead are 40 movies we're already pumped to watch, complete with trailers and teasers that hint at what to expect.

'The Upside' (January 11)

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At the start of the year, Kevin Hart and Brian Cranston are releasing a dramedy about a paralyzed billionaire who finds a friend in an ex-convict. The Upside is a remake of the 2011 French flick, The Intouchables.

After Split's surprise ending, we're finally going to see how the film connects to that other M. Night Shyamalan hit, Unbreakable. Bruce Willis returns as David Dunn, a security guard who's pursuing Kevin Wendell Crumb (James McAvoy), aka the guy with multiple personalities -- one of which is a beast. Samuel L. Jackson plays the villain, Mr. Glass.

Matthew McConaughey plays Baker Dill, a fishing boat captain who leads tours off of Plymouth Island. Anne Hathaway is Karen, his ex-wife who's asking Baker to kill her violent new husband by taking him out to sea and throwing him to the sharks.

Everything is no longer awesome in Bricksburg after the Lego Duplo invaders started wrecking everything. This whole new adventure will include a battle to save the Lego universe, and will have the main characters traveling to different galaxies (and apparently, one of those galaxies is musical).

In the third and, sadly, final installment of How to Train Your Dragon, the bond between Hiccup and Toothless will be tested -- thanks to a female Night Fury, and, more importantly, a new dark and dangerous threat.

'The Turning' (February 22)

Stranger Things star Finn Wolfhard (he plays Mike Wheeler) and The Florida Project's Brooklynn Price play two orphans who are sent to live with their wealthy uncle -- which already sounds like a winning plot line considering their talent. But the real story starts after the nanny (Halt and Catch Fire's Mackenzie Davis) who's hired to care for them starts to suspect the mansion where they live is haunted.

A little girl spent her childhood constructing a fake theme park and loses her imagination as she gets older -- until she comes across that same theme park (talking animals included) in the middle of the woods.

Get Out's Jordan Peele is back with another scary flick, this time following a husband (Winston Duke) and wife (Lupita Nyong'o) who are on a nice vacation with their kids at a beach house ... until uninvited visitors arrive.

Based on a popular book about an agoraphobic mother who goes missing before a trip to Antarctica, this comedy (yes, comedy) stars Kristen Wiig, Cate Blanchett, and Judy Greer. In other words, it's gonna be good.

We're pretty sure we're already crying over this live-action remake! For a quick reminder, the story is about an elephant who's forced to leave his mom and perform in a circus due to his oversized ears.

Even though there's no official release date for this film, anything that involves Charlie Hunnam, Garrett Hedlund, Oscar Issac, and Pedro Pascal (oh yeah, Ben Affleck, too), is worth the watch. (There are definitely some hotties.) Triple Frontier is technically a Netflix movie, but will be released in select theaters.

Fans of this graphic novel will say goodbye to Ron Pearlman as the upcoming Hellboy film now stars David Harbour -- aka Chief Hopper from the hit series Stranger Things -- who will face off against a revenge-seeking sorceress.

'Pokémon Detective Pikachu' (May 10)

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A son is searching to find out what happened to his missing dad, and a talking Pikachu -- who also, weirdly, wants to be a detective -- is down to help. Ryan Reynolds voices Pikachu, so it sounds pretty promising.

Weirdness is celebrated in the town of Uglyville, but after the main character, Moxy (voiced by Kelly Clarkson) gets curious, she and her friends (voiced by folks like Nick Jonas and Emma Roberts) travel to Perfection. There, more conventional-looking dolls are trained and sent to find the love of a child. The friends then struggle with being different, but ultimately learn to love themselves, so, yeah, we'll grab the tissues for this one.

In the third installment in the series (a continuation of John Wick 2), there's now a $14 million contract on John Wick's life. He'll have to fight his way out of New York to avoid being killed, and it likely won't be easy.

It's a family affair in this sequel! John Shaft's son is a cyber security expert who will need his dad's (Samuel L. Jackson) help to investigate the untimely death of a friend. Also, from the looks of it, the original Shaft (played by Richard Roundtree) is involved, too!

It's not exactly live-action (just a better animated film) but TheLion King reboot includes the voices of Beyonce, Donald Glover, Seth Rogen, Beyonce (who needs to be listed twice), and so many other talented actors.

Brad Pitt! Leonardo DiCaprio! The pair play a former actor and his stunt double who are trying to make a name for themselves in Hollywood! Somehow, this story also ties in with the Manson family murders.

Yes, there's going to be another one! Columbus, Tallahasse, Wichita, and Little Rock -- who first found each other during a zombie outbreak -- are slightly older and still fighting the undead, who, apparently, have evolved.

Technically, this is the sixth Terminator movie (!!!). But since James Cameron is coming back to produce, Deadline reports that it will "basically ignore the other sequels and iterations and take up where those first two left off." Other than that, not much else is known, besides the fact that Arnold Schwarzenegger will star, Linda Hamilton is back playing Sarah Connor, and Halt and Catch Fire's Mackenzie Davis also has a role.

The super fast blue hedgehog from SEGA is getting the animated, live-action treatment next November. In the film, he'll have to face off against the evil Dr. Robotnik with the help of the town's new sheriff.

This reboot is a long, long, long (as in years) time coming. While little is known about this Masters of the Universe project -- other than the Nee brothers are directing (they've worked on The Last Romantic and Band of Robbers) -- we're excited to see He-Man return to the big screen. (Rumor has it this will be an origin story.)